Category: Film

“My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement.” – Patricia Graynamore

One of my favorite movies is “Joe Vs. the Volcano,” which stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (with a cameo by none other than Abe Vigoda to boot!). This sometimes silly movie has some great quotes and a deeper meaning than many perceive upon first viewing it. One of my favorite quotes is printed above, and I think it was this quote that gave me the answer I often give when people ask me how I am.

When people ask, “How are you?” I will say (about 90% of the time), “ I am awake.” I mean this on two levels. First, I am actually awake and not asleep. But on a second and more important level, I also mean that I am trying to live my life in a state of awareness. While originating from Buddhist teaching and practice, I also find it an appropriate way of trying to live as follower of Christ. I want to be aware and awake to the world around me, especially when it comes to my fellow travelers on the journey of life. Only then can I truly be Christ to those I encounter.

“From all reports it’s adapted quite faithfully from the acclaimed novel by Cormac McCarthy. The Coen Bros 12th feature doesn’t compromise. There’s no musical score to speak of and little to comfort the audience within its bleak world view beyond the well judged comedic grace notes that are character based rather than jokey. . . . Mesmerizing movie. More later as Oscar season approaches… but there’s one inevitable element: Javier Bardem will be nominated (Lead or supporting though, who knows? The cast is strong across the board but his character, the violent sociopath Anton Chigurh, dominates the film the way Hopkins dominated Silence of the Lambs or Daniel Day-Lewis dominated Gangs of New York though neither were in fact the “lead”).

If you are interested in seeing the most recent theatrical trailer for the film, the best one can be found here, though you can find many low quality versions on youtube. Many people are raving about this film. One reviewer on IMDB gives all of the performances a “thumbs up.” He writes:

Perfectly cast is Tommy Lee Jones. He nails it, the crowd goes wild etc… That’s expected though. . . . Kelly Macdonald will have to do something else to prove to me she really isn’t the Clara Jean character she portrayed even though I know she is a Scot. Woody Harrelson, who I think gets too much praise sometimes, is at his best here and actually manages not to get blown off the screen (well sorta) by Javier Bordem. [And] Mr. Bordem’s performance is a force, much like the character he portrays. His Chigurh is a representation of the lunacy of violence that exists in society. There is no negotiations with it, it has always been here and it will always be here. It/he leaves us in shock and terror and all we can do is… ???

James Rocchi, who saw the film at Cannes in May, praises the cinematography and goes on to add:

No Country for Old Men is one of the most suspenseful films the Coens have ever made, which says a lot. Cormac McCarthy’s novel has also been impressively well-adapted . . . [But] with all of the seemingly standard-issue thriller plot devices in the piece — money, guns and trouble — there’s a dim chance that some might not catch the smaller, subtler themes of No Country for Old Men, which would be a shame; this is a story about death, not just murder; this is a story about want, not just money; this is a story of principle, not just pursuit.

No Country for Old Men is a morality tale written in blood and muzzle flashes, but all of the shock and power in the close-quarters lunge and rush of it can’t hide that it’s also a serious, thoughtful work of art that lies uneasy in your mind long after it’s stirred your blood. The film may have headlong gun battles down dark alleys and range across borders in as the characters follow each other through the West, but what it really explores is the human soul: How we live, how we die, what we regret, what we fear.

Finally, if you want to read more of the early buzz about the film, I suggest visiting its page on Rotten Tomatoes here. I don’t know where you will be and what you will be doing the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I do know where I will be and what I will be doing. I will be at my local cineplex, watching this film.

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Yours Truly Through the Years

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The Prodigal Son

And Jesus said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.